


Pretty sure this isn't the definition of, "Survival of the Fittest."

by elbatross



Series: The Marimo AU [3]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Crack, Calm Down Erik, Charles Is a Darling, Exactly What It Says on the Tin, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Marimo, Other, Plants, Violence, murderous marimo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-13
Updated: 2013-01-20
Packaged: 2017-11-25 07:44:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/636675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elbatross/pseuds/elbatross
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charles Xavier is a sneaky, cunning man, and while this usually plays out well for Erik on his free weekends, this is not one of them. He's got seven guests to host, and while six of them are pleasant enough, it's the seventh he's worried about. Leave it to his geneticist boyfriend to task him with babysitting an evolutionary marvel with a grudge against humanity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Erik versus Erik

**Author's Note:**

> Please read the previous two works before this one, if for nothing else than to see the progression of Erik the Marimo's anger.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charles sets his plan into action and the feud begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, I guess I got just as attached to this AU as everyone else did. By popular demand, this has become a full-fledged series with a little bit of seriousness added to the plot. Thanks for this chapter goes to [professor](http://archiveofourown.org/users/professor/pseuds/professor) for a plot inspiration and [wallhaditcoming](http://archiveofourown.org/users/wallhaditcoming/pseuds/wallhaditcoming) for giving me a name for marimo!Charles to call Erik. Big thanks to everyone who actually reads these fics and makes comments on here or on tumblr, I don't know why you guys put up with some of the craziness that I do and say on there but I appreciate it.
> 
> Other really important things that you should check out before reading this is the little informational post I did about Charles's specimens. You can find it [here](http://sharkweekhomes.tumblr.com/post/40312249653/this-is-mostly-just-for-reference-purposes-for-the), I think it'll help increase the absurdity of some of these chapters. Enjoy!

Erik really needed to watch out when Charles started batting those lashes at him, and even more so when he sat his bag down and climbed into his lap to kiss him on the couch. Were he to have paid a little more attention, he would have seen how heavy the quite large bag was. If he wasn't so focused on watching Charles's lovely gait on the way to the kitchen, he would have heard his refrigerator opening and Charles chattering excitedly to someone or something. All the signs were there, but he still didn't see it until Charles had him tightly wound around his finger with his head on Erik's chest.

"Erik, darling," he began, his voice sweet and dreamy as he traced little circles on the pectoral he wasn't resting on. "I need you to do a huge favor for me. It's vitally important and I don't think I can trust anyone but you with this particular task." To add to the effect, Charles tilted his head up and started kissing his way to Erik's lips starting at his collar bone, then rested their foreheads together. 

"Anything you want, Charles. You know I'd do almost anything for you short of jail or deportation." There was a grin and another soft kiss before Charles started to speak again.

"I've got a conference to attend this weekend, and although we've got people who can get into my lab, I only trust Hank to take care of some of my most important experiments. Trouble is, he's coming along with me, which is where you come in, my dear." Charles cupped Erik's face with his hands, plastering kisses to his cheekbones as Erik's expression became wary. "I need you to watch the marimo for me."

That's when Erik knew his weekend was going to be utter hell. He couldn't say no to Charles, not when he was needed and there was doing some _very_ interesting things his teeth were doing to Erik's earlobe. There was a shuddered sigh and a shift to fit Charles a little more neatly into his lap, then a clearing of his throat.

"Alright, but just this once, Charles. And only if you've brought a pair of leather gloves for handling that urchin you call a moss ball." Charles pulled away from Erik's ear and beamed, utterly thrilled as he got off his lap to get to the small aquarium in his bag. 

"He's not an urchin, Erik. He's cute once you get to know him a little better, see?" He passed Erik a large sealed jar, the marimo floating inside. The big pointy one thrust itself against the glass and started to fill out. Erik grimaced. Charles got to setting the aquarium up on a wide end table in Erik's living room, confident that it would be out of the way of Erik's work space. "We won't worry about putting much else in here for now, since it's just a weekend. Just the helmet for decoration, there we go." As he headed off to fetch some water, Erik groaned and set the jar on the table. He really needed to build some sort of defense against his boyfriend's tactics of coercion.

Once everything was set up, Erik expected to have a little time with Charles to say goodbye before he had to leave. Again, he was wrong, only getting a quick kiss on the cheek and hand ruffling through his hair. 

"I really do have to go now, the plane leaves in an hour and Hank's waiting for me at the airport with the luggage. You'll do fine, I've left instructions in the notebook on your workbench. See you in a few days, love." Charles took his leave, and Erik stared at the door before resigning to looking at the half full tank. At least it wouldn't spill if The Monster got out of control, he considered, and he opened the jar to gently pour them out into the tank. Once each marimo was accounted for and an attempt had been made at his life, he wiped his brow free of sweat and headed to get a beer from the fridge to stave off the heat of an unusually warm spring.

It was all he could do to keep from slamming the door shut in shock when he saw two little faces peeking up at him from the top shelf, chilling in cool water as if they belonged there. On top of the freckled and three legged axolotl's dish was a note.

_Erik,_  
Please make sure that these two make it into the tank with the frozen water bottle you'll find in your icebox. I'm afraid that they cannot stand to be in the heat for very long, poor things. You'll find their food next to the bottle, and if they get too warm then please return them to your fridge for a moment or two until they look a little more like their normal selves. Same applies for the marimo, but you can leave them in the jar the entire weekend unless the urge to play with them overcomes you. Thank you :)  
-xoxo Charles 

Oh, Charles would certainly be owing him big time after this weekend. He shut the fridge on the smiling faces of the little amphibians ( _"Inhabiting the same place I keep food! For gods sake Charles!"_ ) and went to fetch his winter gloves. The weekend was already too long for his liking, and it wouldn't even be Saturday for another six hours.

***

Soft Human had some pretty skewed views about where Erik would most like to spend his time. Home was his first favorite, for while Hank was clumsy with their baths, he kept Charles, Pietro, Wanda, and Lorna in perfect form whenever they couldn't manage to get themselves just right. The lab was second, always interesting and full of food even if he had to deal with constantly being handled by Soft Human, who was actually his favorite human to deal with if he had been forced to choose. If he were to be surveyed at the present moment on his current location's ranking, he would consider it to be just a step above his original home while Sebastian was alive, with Post-Sebastain ranked just above it. For one, Soft Human quickly left after their temporary home was set up, proving to him that when in the personal territory of Scary Human he wasn't the only one who didn't want to be around. That was his other problem, that he and his family would be forced to survive for who knew how long with Scary Human. Judging by the way that he'd dumped them into the tank and then gone to the Human Food Room where Michael and James were, he was a barbarian capable of putting up a decent fight. Erik might not have liked the other creatures, but he would mourn their passing and pray that they'd at least put up a decent fight before becoming food themselves.

Patrolling the aquarium was his only option, and it seemed to double as training for the children when they joined in behind him. Charles calmly remained in the middle of the tank, taking in his new surroundings enthusiastically. There was color everywhere, mostly reds and purples on black or white backgrounds, and so many sculptures that ranged in size and shape. He even thought he spotted something that looked like the brothers at home, steel jaws open wide with pointy teeth and painted on bellies that were bright orange. 

"Erik, just look around! There are so many things here to wonder about. And there's a Human Aquarium here too, so if you get bored of following Keen Human around you can calm down and watch." He floated upwards, reaching the surface of the water quickly and continuing to explore. Scary Human chose that moment to walk by and pick up the jar, scooping Charles up with some of the water and taking off for the Food Room.

Naturally, Erik was heartbroken and enraged all at once. His mate was being toted off to become some monster's meal, a mere side dish next to the others, and he hadn't even tried to fight it. Their marimo would be minus a parent, and it was all his fault. The only option remaining was to protect their offspring and avenge his lover.

"Alright, young ones, stick to Papa and watch out for any little bits that could tear you. We're going to war."

***

Getting the first marimo was unexpectedly easy, but then again he had to consider that this was Charles he was talking about. Just like the real guy, Charles the marimo was amicable and came to Erik without much prompting. It was soft, small, and comfortable in Erik's palm when he held it under the tap for a quick rinse. Once the jar was refilled, he placed it back inside and watched it sink to the bottom. Erik picked the jar up again to get a better look and was surprised to see that the algae rolled to be closer to his fingers.

"You're a kind little thing. If I had the right frame of mind I'd keep you for myself. I hear you guys make for easy pets, and you'd be good company at work. Give me something to talk to when my Charles is busy." Charles pressed against the glass now, swaying as he always did when he was reportedly very pleased. "But you wouldn't like being taken away from your Monster, would you? He might be rough and literally pretty thorny, but I've seen how he preens when you're around. If he's not distracted by me, of course." Erik put the jar in the sink, pulling the welding gloves out of his back pocket and getting them on. Once he had those and a decent sized cup, he headed back to the living room to retrieve the rest of the little family. What followed could only be described as the greatest war that had ever been waged between man and intelligent plant life. Erik forever referred to the incident as the day when his apartment transformed into the Little Shop of Horrors.

***

Scary Human was back for more within minutes, his hands covered in some sort of thick skin. The children were silent, firmly stuck to Erik even when he lunged at the side of the aquarium and jostled the water. There was a wicked thrill that ran through him when the human backed away, and then a rage when the hand dove in and reached for him. When he found that his spears and claw wouldn't pierce through the skin, he retreated to regroup and form a new plot. Erik rolled as fast as he could to avoid Scary Human's grasp, inevitably losing the children as he took to hiding. To his horror, they were snatched up one by one and placed in a tiny container, and he'd been too cowardly to make sure they were safe before he was.

First his mate, now his children, all gone to become snacks for the beast they had been abandoned with. He was infuriated beyond all belief at that moment, swearing to do whatever he could to get his revenge. He waited under Michael's steel helmet and plotted, pressing against the cool metal as a way to stave off some of the warmth of the water. His greatest idea came when he noted a few metal bits at the bottom of the tank thathad fallen from the top of the helmet's decoration. These would be much stronger than fish bones, not as sharp but far more sturdy. Erik pulled them into himself and floated out of the helmet, ready to make his move when the time came. The Scary Human returned for their final round, taking his time to approach the tank with caution. He circled it, Erik circling with him, and then they both jumped.

***

Grabbing the Monster was a challenge this time, mostly because he hadn't expected it to make quills from broken parts of the decoration. Erik scowled when the marimo tried to embed metal bits into his forearm, reaching in with his other hand to grab it carefully and pull it out. He'd won against the four inch ball of algae and gained another point for man against plant. The triumphant trek back to the kitchen was marked by the plant trying to stab him again and Erik holding him close to the window to make it shrink away from the light, a trick he'd thought of while remembering facts from Charles's rants. He deposited it in the jar with the rest of its family and closed the lid before switching them out for the axolotl in fridge and hoped that a little while of cooling off would improve everyone's mood.

***

"Charles! You're all alive!"

"Of course we are. He was just moving us, Erik. That's no cause for alarm, darling. It's just like when Soft Human moves us." He nestled in at the bottom of the jar with the children, watching Erik bristle and bob.

"He's dangerous, Charles. I almost had him, but I don't think my new barbs were sharp enough. If only I had more time to perfect them..." Erik was starting to spin slowly, looking around the fridge. "Now we're going to be eaten. They torture us with heat to weaken us, then they lull us into believing that we're safe by letting us get comfortable in the cold. He'll be back soon, and then he'll eat us for his dinner. You've surely seen it happen in the Human Aquariums. They eat green things like us all the time. We have to be prepared."

"Erik, stop that. You'll scare the children." Charles was starting to tire of Erik's nonsense, inflating to seem bigger and more intimidating in hopes that it would convince him to listen. "He won't hurt us, or else he'd make Soft Human very upset. Keen Human understands that we need each other as much as he needs his human. You're acting no better than Wolverine and Sabretooth, like a bloodthirsty fish. We've got it in us to be the better species, Erik. We have intelligence that most vertebrates would dream of having if they could even dream."

"We are the better species, Charles. I'll do whatever I can to prove that to both you and him, no matter how long it takes." He glared at something in a dark bottle, the same liquid he'd seen Scary Human with earlier. 

"Can't we just try to live in peace for just this once? Not everything's a war anymore, Erik. You're not in your old aquarium anymore." Charles watched Erik float closer to him with a great intent.

"No, Charles. Scary Human has taken us away from our home to poke and prod at us and our children. We don't deserve this. At this point, Charles, I'm starting to think that peace was never an option." Erik started for the top of the jar to  
look for a way out as Charles watched on in disappointment. There wouldn't be anything else he could do until Erik realized that no one was out to harm them but try and convince him of that truth. Pietro shot away from his spot next to his father to tag his papa, the girls deciding to join in the game. Erik didn't turn to chastise them or participate, but they continued their game anyhow.

***

At the end of the night, Erik was perfectly content to leave the jar of marimo alone in the fridge, but he remembered that he wasn't supposed to leave them in for too long or they would freeze and die. As much trouble as it had been to get the Monster in, he couldn't bare to be the cause of any of the marimo dying. He went to get them, finding the large one trying to make it's escape as the others played or rested. Erik feared that the cold might have killed little Charles and tapped the glass to check on him, relieved to find that he rolled closer.

"Hey little guy, are you guys doing alright? Pretty sure your Erik's pissed that I moved you, but I thought he'd be happier to be with you guys. Surprised he isn't stuck to you like he usual." He carried the jar to his room and kept a careful hold on it despite the condensation on the glass, putting it on the barest nightstand in the room. "Get some rest and we'll start over tomorrow, probably with my welding gloves on hand nearby." It was too hot for clothing that night, so Erik stripped down to nothing and shot off a goodnight text to Charles along with a photo of the jar. He flushed at the picture sent to him in return, Charles all curled up in the sheets with messy hair and skin reddened with heat from the Miami sun. As tempted as he was to send back a picture of himself, he decided that holding off for just one night would get Charles back for tricking him into watching after his lab pets for the weekend. Instead, he sent a text to tease him about his cute sun burn and turned off the light. The dreams he had that night were like something he'd read in a fairy tale, his prince a tiny marimo that he had to kiss to ensure that he would have a handsome husband.

Someone must have written dream Erik the wrong ending. Somewhere in his mind, he was pretty sure that he wasn't supposed to turn into a marimo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who aren't familiar with the facts, axolotl and marimo prefer cold water to warm and can get sick in warmer temperatures. Solution? Put frozen water bottles in their tanks or pop them in the refrigerator for a little while to cool them down. Sounds a little crazy, but it's true.


	2. Personal Wars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erik goes out for routine coffee with his old friend/ex, and they figure out where he needs to go from there while his marimo counter plots world domination. One thing ends up uniting them in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frisky start, angst the rest of the way through. There is one little warning but it's a spoiler so I'll put it at the end if you want to check anyhow. This one got away from me.

Keen Human left early that next morning, which sort of baffled Charles while giving him something to think about that wasn't Erik's coldness. He and the children gave the man their best wishes as well as they could, then went back to resting as Erik tried to follow. Charles was secretly thankful for being trapped in a jar that prevented that. As their little ones drifted back to sleep in a small pile on their own, Charles floated up to meet Erik. He didn't offer his usual brush of softness against him, and Erik seemed to notice this time.

"Charles, is something the matter?"

"You know what's the matter," he sighed. "Erik, you can't just wage war against humanity. First off, you're a single marimo, and no matter how advanced you are the humans aren't going to see you as anything other than a cute little ball of moss. And more importantly, you're a father now. Whatever happened to the marimo who was trying to learn how to float?" He sadly nudged against Erik, hopefully trying to inspire him to give up his fight.

"I can try, and I'm not alone. You're quite right, Charles, I am a father with an intelligent little brood who can learn how to defend themselves against humans. I've also got you, the greenest and roundest little ball of algae who could hardly keep from spinning about without me. You and the children are the sole reason I'm doing this. I want to keep you all safe." Erik nuzzled against Charles until they were firmly attached to one another.

"You don't have to do that, Erik. No one is out to harm us. All you have to do is be here with us." He fluffed out a little. "...and maybe just stick to me like this when they children aren't awake. I've missed this, we've had so little time to actually..." Charles was silenced by Erik nudging him closer to the glass and eagerly swaying with him. 

"Then I might as well take advantage of the situation while we have it, right?"

***

The text from Magda the next morning pulled him from his dreams of defending the Royal Lake of the Marimo, for which he was quietly grateful. Coffee days with Magda weren't exactly rare, but they did rely on her making the plans seeing as she was a very busy woman these days.

 _[Erik, you've got twenty minutes to be at our usual place. That's enough time to shower and call to say good morning to your boy before getting your butt down here. If you're late, you're paying. <3] _ He chuckled at the text and immediately called up Charles, sliding out of bed and basking in the relief of cool air on bare skin after a hot night. There were four rings before the phone picked up, the voice on the other end of the line adorably tired.

"'lo?"

"Good morning, Charles," he replied softly, practically hearing the smile on the other side. The sheets rustled and Charles groaned a little before answering.

"What are you wearing?" Erik bit back a laugh.

"A bit forward for first thing in the morning, isn't it?" Charles laughed gently, the edge of it a little rough. 

"Just humor me, please? You did wake me up before my alarm, I think you owe me at least that, Erik." His name was rolled off Charles's tongue in a way that made him wish he was there to catch it with his own and just melt into a kiss, but there wasn't that sort of time available to him for that kind of dreaming right now.

"Well, it was unbearably hot last night, like always. I slept naked, just got up myself. And you?" He listened to Charles's breathing hitch, then more sheets being moved about. Erik could only imagine what was going on in that Miami hotel room. "Charles?"

"A bit busy, I'm afraid. Could I have a moment?"

"Afraid I don't have that sort of time this morning. If you can hold on until tonight, I think I can be of better assistance. For now, you'll just have to deal with my wake up call and your imagination." Charles's whimper of response made him glad that he was heading to the shower after they hung up. "Everyone's fine here, you just get back to sleep and we'll take later, okay?"

"Fine," he grumbled back, and Erik couldn't help laughing a little fondly. "But I do hope you know I'll be thinking of you until I do fall back asleep. Thinking of you right, mmm, now." Erik bit his lip and started for the shower, already in need of a wash. "I hope your morning is just as pleasant as mine is starting out to be, Erik." The last bit was panted out, then the line went dead. He was thankful that he still had time before he was supposed to meet Magda.

She already had a table saved when Erik finally arrived, smiling and tapping her watch.

"Twenty minutes is up, Erik. You know the rules."

"Actually, it's only been nineteen and a half. I set a timer." He sat his bag down on the bench, knowing full well that he'd been caught. "Alright, fine, it's on me this time. You should have known that I'd be a little late."

"You're always a little late, Erik. Don't forget the sugar this time." Erik waved her off and went to take his place in line, orders already in his head. It was good to see that she was doing so well, far happier than she'd been at the end of their relationship. They were better off friends anyhow, he tried to remind himself, and with a situation like the one they'd been in it was hard not to have a few regrets here or there. That's why they still got together every so often to keep up with the other's life, and to make sure that they'd still be able to move on when things got to be too much. Magda had been the one to tell him to man up and go after Charles if the chance ever presented itself, and now she was there to talk him through it when he got to be too unsure of himself. All his thinking was interrupted when his turn to order came, and he indulged in getting an extra espresso shot for his friend as an apology for being so late. When he returned to the table, she was still grinning at him.

"I can tell you had a good morning. You forgot to shave. Makes you look like a starving art student," she teased, reaching to rub his red stubble. 

"Hey, it's starving art _teacher_ these days, thank you very much. And Charles likes the starving artist look, it plays to some strange kink he has with wanting to take care of people. Or little monstrous plants." Erik batted her hand away playfully, pushing Magda her coffee and sugar.  
Magda started to stir it in, eyeing Erik.

"So how are things going with that? Not just the moss balls, I mean. I'm surprised you didn't bring him along with the way you talk about him. Did he not want to meet the famous Magda?"

"No, he's in Miami for a conference right now. Still managed to make me late, but he wasn't home. Otherwise I'm fairly certain that he would have joined us and blabbed on about Erik the marimo and his little Charles, and how oh so fascinating and cute they are. You'd get pictures and charts and he'd never shut up about it," he sighed. "He's brilliant and charming, but those are the ones you have to watch out for."

"You don't regret it, though. I can tell that much."

"Not at all." Magda's phone chirped at that moment, and as she looked at it she snorted softly and tapped away at it. "I see you're pretty happy with yours too, hm?" She glanced up at him, her eyes a hint mischievous.

"He's got this kid, precious little boy named Miles who likes to put pipe cleaner hats on his pet tarantula. He takes pictures and sends them to me all the time." He peeked over the table to get a look, sure enough spotting a disgruntled arachnid wearing a red top hat. 

"Cute. Most I get from Charles is a weekend with the experiments. The axolotl are fine, even if they bite you it sort of tickles, it's the marimo."

"Still that big one? I can see why it was named after you. You were kind of thorny when we were younger, and I seem to remember you getting into a lot of fights with some of the older kids. I should dig up those photos and send them to Charles. He'd love that."

"Don't you dare." Erik glared and rummaged through his bag, pulling out his sketchbook to draw. It was a habit he'd had a hard time breaking, forged when he was a young child when Magda would sit still and model for him. He never tired of drawing her, even now. There was the gentle curl of her hair at her shoulders, or the soft look in her eyes whenever she knew his attention was on her. Everything was the same as always, and yet it wasn't at all. This time, she frowned and stilled his hand before the book could even be opened.

"Erik, don't. We've talked about this. You know what you're doing, and I've already forgiven you. It's taken this long to get you somewhere and I don't need you ruining the good thing you have just because you're still guilty about everything." Magda pried the book from his grasp and flipped through it, tearing out a few pages before handing it back and shoving them into her purse. "I've moved on from that, and now it's time that you do too. It was three years ago." She gently rubbed his hand. "Have you told Charles about it?"

Erik avoided meeting her eyes for a moment, opening his book to doodle anyhow. There was a cartoon of Charles the marimo looking sad as a gargantuan Erik terrorized a miniature Tokyo. He'd have to make him a city one day. 

"...he doesn't need to know. It's in the past, like you said." Magda groaned at him, taking his pencil and scribbling out an angry looking stick man to chastise him. It was amusing to see that they both had the same line of thought.

"Just this one thing, please? If he never meets me, I want him to know about that. I've got just the thing to help with it too, and you can thank me now if you want." Now it was Magda's turn to rustle through her bag, pulling a little tied up plastic bad with a container from her purse. "Be extra careful with that. You can open it now, I want to see your face when you look at it."

He was curious now. It felt full of water, and the bag was from Sea Dreams, a little aquarium supply that he'd checked out with Charles at Hank's insistence once. Erik opened the bag and pulled the container out, holding it up to the light.

The tiny marimo inside tried to float away from the light source, just like the Monster had the night before. It seemed to approach the corner closest to him and wait there for his attention.

"Magda, you really didn't have to."

"I did. You're always talking about the ones at work that Charles shows you, and if you didn't at least like the things you wouldn't have a picture of them on your phone." He grimaced at that. "Oh come on, you left it here and your background is literally Charles holding one that looks a little frightening, no offense. And you said that Charles wasn't going to be able to keep them forever because they aren't his, so I mean...look, just take it. It'll be in exchange for the art. Think of it as the final piece to your new start. Put your hopes and dreams for the future we couldn't have in that." Magda watched Erik marvel at the little thing as it followed his fingertip. She'd only picked that one because it seemed special, just like the ones Erik ranted on and on about when he wasn't talking about Charles. 

"Would it be alright if I named it-"

"Yes, Erik. That's fine. Like I said, hopes and dreams." She stood up with her coffee. "I've got to go now, there's some errands I've got to do. Talk to Charles," she commanded, leaning over to give him a hug. "And take good care of that little girl for me, okay? I know you don't need anyone to tell you that, but I need to make sure. Have a good day, Erik." 

Erik let his coffee grow cold as he continued to sit in the cafe and draw, his eyes looking over to the marimo in the container every so often. He drew her with the other little ones using a few of the colored pencils he kept with him, making her the same lighter green that he always used for Erik. She looked similar, not as perfectly round as the others and more fond of staying still, but she was somehow more gentle in nature. As the hour grew closer to mid morning, he packed up his things and picked up his new pet.

"Come along, little Anya. We've got to get back home."

***

Well into the afternoon, Keen Human returned to put them in the fridge. Charles noted that he seemed to be in a far better mood. Erik, on the other hand, lost his calm that Charles had worked all morning on. Wanda and Lorna hitched onto Papa for a ride as he started up his usual patrol.

Erik stopped when Scary Human put something new into the fridge with an affectionate tap to it's container. Inside was a tiny marimo, hardly as big as Lorna and not nearly as round. He rushed over to get a good look at it.

"Charles, he's got another one hostage. We must get out and take her for ourselves. She can't be raised by a human." His body pressed as close as it could to the glass so that he could be near her. "He's training her to be against our kind, she's one of us."

"Erik, darling, I'm sure that's not the case. Did you see the look he gave her? Maybe he got her because he actually likes us more than you'd like to believe." Charles moved closer, watching her move in unison. "I do agree that we should take her under our care, though, just so she isn't so alone. Poor girl, shops sell them as young as ours sometimes and they don't even realize the damage they do."

"Which is why we should rise up against them." 

"Erik," he chided, swaying to see if the baby marimo would join in and feeling delighted when she did. "Humans are no worse than you. They just don't understand us, not even the less evolved ones of our species. Give them time."

"They've already had enough time for that. When we gave them a chance they nearly wiped out kind out. Haven't you heard those stories, or did you ignore them for a bath instead?" He snapped at Charles, frightening the girls away from him and to their Dad. Offended, Charles became quiet and pulled the children closer. "We have to do something to get back at them. Its only right, and it's the only way we'll protect all of the world's marimo."

"The best way to protect them is to let the humans help us. They celebrate us now."

"How long will that last, Charles? You don't know, and neither do I. We need to take advantage of every opening we see and inform the others who aren't aware of the dangers. It will be a better world for all of our kind."

"And what will you do when you achieve that? You realize that going against humanity means that you won't have a nice aquarium to live in where your children are happy and safe, right? They'll have to deal with the likes of turtles and such, Erik. Certainly you don't want that." 

"By that point, all other species on earth will bow to us to. A turtle will be no danger." Scary Human opened the door again, now on the phone with someone and watching the baby girl in her cup. He opened it, as well as the jar, now wearing gloves that Erik was sure he couldn't penetrate and that covered a lot of his skin. She was poured into their jar before it was sealed shut again, and he tapped against the glass while mouthing her name before leaving again. Erik pulled her in close, softening a little when she clung to him. "So you're little Anya, yes? Welcome to our family."

***

Anya was probably going to be too warm in the apartment after a long morning out, so Erik put her in the fridge with the rest of the marimo before calling up Charles. He checked James and Michael as he put another bottle of ice into their tank as he waited for an answer. Charles picked up, sounding far more awake and less sultry now than he had that morning.

"Erik, darling, how has your morning been? You caught me at the right time, I just finished giving a lecture and we've been let out for lunch."

"Everything's fine around here. I went for coffee with an old friend of mine this morning. She says hello, by the way." Erik grabbed his sketchbook and pencils again, putting his phone on speaker and setting it to the side so he could speak and draw. "What about you? How's your day been?" Charles explained some of the panels to him, explaining things more in depth when he thought Erik wouldn't understand without a little more reference. As he spoke, Erik drew what he imagined the scene to be like on the other end: Charles with his phone cradled to his ear in one hand, the other gesturing as he spoke, and a paper cup of tea or sweet caffeinated drink in the other. His hair would be unintentionally sophisticated, and his eyes half lidded as if all his science babble was really some secret technique hidden in biding of the Karma Sutra yet to be discovered by any other man. 

So maybe he wouldn't be _that_ alluring when talking about the mutations of fruit flies or what have you, but Erik prided himself in taking artistic liberties whenever his works tended to focus on Charles. It probably had something to do with all the corny-yet-endearing advances he'd endured when Charles decided he wanted to try to lure Erik into bed with some genetics related pick up line. 

(Erik would never admit that the "groovy" one had worked better than he'd let on at the time, not unless Charles was spectacularly drunk and Erik had the chance to try it out himself before hand.)

"What about you, love? You had to call for a reason other than to listen to me go on about what I've learned today. Not that you aren't spontaneously romantic in your own way, but I happen to know for a fact that random phone calls aren't much your style." Erik stopped shading the curve of Charles's cheek to clear his throat. If this conversation was going to happen, it had to happen right now. 

"Are you alone?"

"I'm in the hall outside my room right now. I don't know when Hank's going to be back, but I think I can manage to find some time to have the room to myself. Do you need me to be alone right now?" His voice was tender, almost worried. 

"...please?" Erik heard the door to the room open, shut, then lock before there was sounds of a body plopping onto the bed.

"Alright, Erik. I'm alone and the do not disturb sign is on the door. Go ahead." Charles's words felt huge, almost overwhelming, and just looking at the sketch of him made Erik nervous. He shut the book and set it aside, then leaned forward on the couch and took a deep breath.

"I saw Magda today. She's my ex-girlfriend. We, uh, we meet all the time for coffee because we've known each other since kids and it's hard to give up that kind of friendship just because of...circumstances," he started. Erik waited for Charles to accuse him of cheating or some other outlandish thing, but all that came was an "mhm" pressing him to continue. "She really wants to meet you, though. I tell her all about you."

"Erik, we both know that you're trying to avoid the point here." He froze at that, noticing the similarities of his words now and Magda's. Was he only with Charles because he reminded him of her? No, he quickly decided, they were different people who just strongly cared for Erik who happened to know the proper way of handling him. "What is it about Magda that made it so you had to call me so abruptly?"

"...we used to date." He knew that wasn't much of an answer, but it was a start and Charles was always very patient with delicate matters unless he could see the exact cause of delimma. Erik was thankful that the problem was a little more complicated than a relationship gone sour. Charles didn't need to find this out on his own. "We were pretty happy together too. I really loved her, still do, but in the kind of way you always love someone you've known forever. Like you and Moira, that." 

"I get it. Go ahead, dear."

"She and I had plans together, lots of them, and we got a place together and I was starting to plan out the ring I was going to make for her when I proposed and- anyway, about three years ago," he could hear Charles's breathing quicken in anticipation, dreading that he just _knew_ Erik was going to tell him something heartbreaking next, "she was pregnant."

Everything was silent for a minute or two, and then Charles whispered a little "how, Erik?" and he had to leave get off the couch.

"Car accident. She was five months along." He wandered to the aquarium and contemplated packing up the boys to move the to the fridge just to have something to do. "We were going to call her Anya. She was going to be my little girl." No, better leave them where they were, he decided. They didn't need to become a part of this too.

"Oh Erik."

"We tried to handle it afterwards, but she didn't like the stress of feeling like she'd failed me and I couldn't handle looking at her without feeling like I'd failed to protect her from everything including myself. We were afraid of me and the anger we both knew I could harbor, so we split. She got help and eventually forced me into it too, and we've been working it out ever since. I think we might have figured it out a little today, though." Erik started for the kitchen, deciding that he'd check on the marimo.

"And how's that?" Charles kept his voice light, but concern still clung to it. His boyfriend was hurting, and they both knew that Charles didn't like to be useless when someone needed support.

"She got me a marimo because she thought it would help me grow a little more attached to you. She's smaller than the littlest one and kind of looks like the Monster. Magda thought you might be sad too when you have to give the others back to Hank." He opened the fridge to look at them.

"And you named her Anya, didn't you?" He sounded a bit more cheerful now. "Did you put her with the others?"

"Yeah, and no. I can do that right now, though." Erik opened the jar and Anya's container, carefully putting her with the others. She floated for a while, waiting on his attention, so he tapped the glass.

"Tell her I said hi and that I can't wait to meet her, would you?" As instructed, he mouthed a small hello to her before letting her get used to the others. He didn't fear the Monster getting at her for revenge, knowing full well the soft spot it had for the little ones. "Erik, thank you for telling me all of this. It was, well, honestly a very big thing to have to tell me over the phone when I'm hundreds of miles away, but I still appreciate you thought to tell me at all." Charles went quiet again, shuffling on the bed. "But I wish I was at home right now with you to hold you. You probably need it right now."

"Charles, I'm fine."

"...if you say so, Erik. Still, thank you. It means a lot to me." Erik returned to his spot on the couch and opened another page in his book, starting to draw again. There was his Charles in bed, calm and running his fingers through Erik's hair soothingly like they both wanted him to be.

"Will you be home tomorrow night? You can meet Anya properly then."

"Actually, I have to be at the school just as I get off for the evening. Why don't you pack everyone up into a cooler and bring them along when you come to get me? You can keep the tank for Anya so she has space to grow, but we can get the others back in their home so we don't have to worry about moving them later." 

"That sounds even better," he admitted. There was a knock on the door from Charles end, loud enough for Erik to hear. 

"Sorry love, that's probably Hank wanting to get me back for my next lecture. We'll talk again tonight, I promise. Goodbye, I miss you."

"Miss you too. Bye." Once they hung up, Erik sat his phone down and traced his fingers over the graphite of the drawing. He hated that he'd be spending the night alone.

***

The night progressed without much fussing on Erik's part, which pleased Charles for a second time that night. Anya seemed to be getting used to everyone, letting her new siblings teach her how to play follow the leader and spin almost as fast as Pietro. They were still too little to speak, but it seemed that they didn't need to.

"She fits in well," Charles remarked, sinking down next to Erik to admire the children at play. Erik pressed against him again in agreement. "We probably can't keep her, you realize. Keen Human loves her."

"We can try, Charles. She'll be ours even if she can't stay with us. If nothing else, we'll love her as much as we can while we have her." They were then moved for the final time of the night, placed on the same night table as before. The children took it as a signal for bed, huddling with their parents and making room for Anya with them. Erik flinched when there was a flash of light before them, puffing threateningly when Scary Human accompanied it with a vicious baring of teeth.

"Relax, darling. I think he is just documenting us for Soft Human again. Please try to get some rest tonight." Surprisingly, Erik settled down as requested this time, possibly too tired to put up a fight after a long day of battle. The lights went off and everyone snuggled closer together, the little family of marimo at peace. Charles just hoped that it would stay that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for mentions of miscarriage


	3. Final Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erik the Marimo faces his most unlikely enemy when he puts the family in danger, and the same villain threatens the relationship of the humans. It's the final showdown, and the hero of the story acquires some new weapons for his battle.

Saturday night was terrible for Erik in terms of sleep. He'd made a few attempts before giving up and resorting to spending the rest of the night at his work table. The sun had risen before he'd even realized he was up that entire time, and it was only then that he decided to pull away from his sculpture to make coffee. He leaned against the counter and sighed, checking his email on his phone until he became sick of pretending to occupy himself and pushed it into his back pocket. Erik had to be honest with himself, and the fact was that he missed Charles already. He was well prepared to deal with him being gone without so much as feeling like he was missing too much, but their conversation the day before and the texts before bed made him anxious. He felt needy and worried that he'd possibly be too much for Charles to handle. There were rumors around the seedier bits of the faculty about Professor Xavier's track record with dating and some of his problems with long term commitment, of which were neither confirmed or denied by Professor McTaggart. If that were the case, Erik fretted, then they'd have no chance. He pounded a fist against the lower cabinet as his Keurig beeped, startling him out of his thoughts. Right, coffee, the most important start to his day. The day did have to go on, even if he had his worries he'd been up all night dwelling on, there was a whole day before him to get through and he had to be up for it. Erik took his mug back to his room, sipping and staring at the jar of marimo. Anya floated to the top when he'd been watching for long enough, letting him pick her up with his free hand.

"Good morning, little dear. Did you sleep well?" He rolled her to the swell of his palm to stroke her with the pad of his thumb. "It's a big day. You get to meet Charles and say goodbye to the others. Charles gave you a nice tank and I'm going to make you something for it. But first, I think we'll give you a little bath and then you can watch me finish the stuff on my desk." Erik glanced at the jar once more, the others now seeming to watch him. "I guess you want to join us too? Alright, why not? Let me finish my coffee and we'll relocate. It is your last day here, after all, and even if some of us don't get along," he eyed The Monster, "that doesn't mean we can't all have a little quality time together." He put Anya back and checked his phone again, texting Charles to wish him good luck on his plane trip back, then headed off to the shower with his half empty mug still in hand.

Erik skipped shaving for yet another day and tidied up around his apartment for a little while before the bath time he'd scheduled for the marimo, finding a low dish to set them in so they could rest in it while he changed the water in their jar. He saw nothing wrong in leaving it next to his latest sculpture, a shark with steel teeth, until it came time to wash out little Erik and he drew back his hand to find it bleeding.

The damn thing _smiled back at him_ , two rows of gleaming steel with a spot of blood on each point. He knew he should have filed those down when he had the chance, but he really didn't expect a ball of moss to tear them out.

"I don't know how you keep managing to do this shit, but it's starting to get pretty old. If you learn how to speak suddenly, I don't care what you offer to science because that isn't going to keep me from leaving you out to dry." It chomped at him. "I'm serious. You're a monstrosity and I don't see what Charles finds so likable in you. You don't even try to be cute like the others, you're just violent." Erik wiggled his fingers at it, watching it bob closer and try to bite him again. All four of the baby marimo followed after, crowding around under the shadow of his hand. "Just don't teach them to do it too, alright?" He managed to pet them all before Erik got close enough to bite again, deciding that it was probably time to get them packed up so they could go back to Charles. The little family was left together for a little longer so that Erik could look for his cooler and pack it with a ice for later.

When it came time to move everyone, Erik was cautious about his fingers. The Monster was at his worst as he retrieved Anya, snapping at Erik even after he had her. He did feel bad for taking her away, but she was just as big a part of his family as she was of theirs and he wasn't going to let her spend long nights in a lab without him. Getting Erik into the jar was the hardest task, but once he was in and everyone was put into the cooler, Erik decided he could head to school and wait for Charles. There was still some time until he'd even be there, but there was plenty of work that could be done around his office. 

"I could probably make Charles something for his office," he murmured to Anya as he packed her up tightly. "He'd like that, you know. Maybe something to clean up all the papers in his office. Or a bench so he'll stop trying to get me to use his old edition text books as chairs."

***

As far as Erik was concerned, his whole species was pretty damn lucky for his existence, and that wasn't just because he was a marimo. See, to Erik, he was the most brilliant and determined marimo that'd ever been formed because he was willing to fight for what he believed in and was resourceful. He worked with what was available to him, sometimes meaning that he had to arm himself with fish bones and crab claws, but other times he'd been lucky enough to get something wonderful. In this case, it had been a fine set of sharp steel teeth from a thing that he was pretty sure was supposed to look like Scary Human. Why the human had made a thing that looked just like him was something that Erik would never understand, but he was thankful that it was around for his benefit. He was even more appreciative when Scary Human allowed him to test out his new teeth on him, to the point that he graced him with a big grin as a sign of gratitude.

"Erik, that's terrible! Why would you do such a think to Keen Human? He's been nothing but kind to us the last couple of days."

"He's the enemy, and even if he has provided me with a tool to see to the demise of his kind, I was nice enough to show him a little thanks a moment ago. Isn't the expression of baring one's teeth how humans do that?" The children went after Scary Human next, wanting to play rather than attack. "No, children, you have to jump at him. Instill fear in his being now so that when he sees you again, he'll know to surrender!" They ignored him, accepting little pats to their fuzz. Charles chuckled.

"Oh yes, I think he's sufficiently frightened. They've got him now." He pushed against Erik lovingly. "You've got a better chance of them making him their slave than anything, Erik. I'd say you should just accept that we're stuck with him, even if The Human does come back, so you should be kinder to him. After all, he did give us Anya without a fight. He can't be so bad." Erik clacked his teeth together and snuggled back.

"He will be tolerated so long as he doesn't bring any harm to our family. I will give him that small favor, and only that." Erik's mind changed as soon as Anya was scooped up minutes later, chasing after the human and bashing against the glass of the jar when they were put in it again. Charles kept the other children close, distressed that they'd lost one of their babies.

"I don't understand. He gave her to us, right? I thought he brought her here to be assimilated into our group?"

"No, Charles, I told you, he wanted to win our favor so he could trap us. He'll probably eat us for sure if I don't do something. You stay with the children, I'm going after him." Once again, he thrust his tiny body against the thick glass to no avail, attempting to use his teeth as reinforcement. Nothing seemed to work, and soon they were moved into a cold, dark box. James and Michael followed in their own little plastic cups, not in the least bit bothered by their situation. Charles decided to question them as to why.

"Oh, this? We're just being transported is all," James replied. "Way cooler in here. We're probably just going back to the lab." 

"More poking and prodding from Soft Human? I suppose that's _acceptable_ , then." Erik huffed and sank in a grump. "Then why is Anya in a cup on her own if she's going with us? What is her fate?" All the others piled on top of him sadly, even Charles, and they watched as Anya floated around her container. "They'd better not keep her away for long. She is one of ours."

"I'm sure she'll be fine, Erik. Just...give it time." The jar tilted a little as the box was picked up. "We'll be back in the lab and then you won't have to see Keen Human all the time. Things will get better, trust me."

Charles regretted saying those words hours later in all the commotion that followed leaving Keen Human's home. Someone had gotten into a fight with him and stolen them, and the jar fell over in the box. The children screamed and Anya's cup started to spill once the lid was knocked off.

"Erik, do something!" Charles reached for the others to keep them safe as Erik tried to bite his way out of the jar, finally puncturing a hole in it and letting water leak out. It sloshed everywhere, but at least Anya was able to roll to safety. The others were ushered out to keep her company, all of them clumping together to hide behind the axolotls. Their carrier stopped to set them down, and Charles clung to Erik.

"Charles, I have no clue what's going on, but we have to get out and protect the children. I doubt we're with Scary Human anymore. He might have passed us on to one of his agents."

"Oh Erik, drop it! Why would he take us somewhere so fast if he were trying to have us killed? Don't you have other theories that say exactly the opposite of that?" The lid was opened by a new human in a dim room, and the axolotls gaped their mouths open in a gasp.

"That's Reaper," Michael whispered. "Used to hang around the Little Feeder in the lab. He didn't belong there at all and he killed our friends while the other humans were busy. January was the last one to go before he left." The man bore his teeth and picked up the half empty jar, admiring the marimo inside. Erik and Charles shied away from him, trying to flatten themselves at the bottom as he opened the jar.

"Listen carefully, Erik. I'm going to let him pick me up, and then I'm going to roll out of his hand and get to the little ones. I have to take care of them, so you take care of him." Reaper reached his hand into the jar. "Whatever happens, I love you." Charles was lifted gently, the man cooing at him almost mockingly and stroking him. Before Charles could even attempt to make his move, he was placed on a board on the desk. Erik watched closely as the man sat before Charles and picked up a tool, stroking him again and touching him with the end of it. 

Then he pushed it into Charles, and he heard his mate scream as a little section was cut out of him. Erik was finished waiting to take down humanity, his time to act was right then. He used all of his might to push the jar over and roll out onto the desk, making himself seem as innocent as could be.

"Well hello there, little Erik. Charles has been making a lot of reports on you and your little friend here. Did you know that you and your family are the only plants in recorded history to be so intelligent? I bet you didn't, but even with how smart you are I'm sure you can't understand anything I have to say to you. After all, you're intelligent, not human. I bet your Charles hardly even felt when I took that little sample from him." Erik resisted taking the bait, letting Reaper move closer to him. Soon, he told himself, just let him get off his guard. "Maybe I'll cut him up and lie him across the tank to become plain moss. He'd be easy to spread out, just like Professor Xavier's going to be..." He reached for Erik and met the end of sharp teeth, sharp pain shooting through his hand until he couldn't feel the tip of one of his fingers. The reason soon became clear as he looked down and saw that it wasn't there anymore.

Between bloodied and sharp teeth rested the other bit of the Reaper's finger. Erik smiled around it, daring him to move closer and attempt to take it back. He was overjoyed when the human ran.

***

Everything went well until Shaw ambushed him from nowhere and took the cooler. Erik panicked and called Charles to tell him everything that'd happened, leaving voicemail after voicemail and texting until he finally got an answer. Charles was understandably upset, but he didn't let on that Erik was at fault even though he knew better. This probably meant the end of their relationship, but until Charles said otherwise Erik would assume they still had a chance. He tried to track Shaw down, but the task was made much harder with the absence of most of the faculty due to it being a Sunday evening. There were too many rooms for one man to check without getting security involved, but they wouldn't be too much help and would probably be apathetic towards helping an art teacher find a handful of plants and a couple of amphibians. Charles's arrival was a relief, and with the addition of himself and Hank to the search party they came close to finding him on their own. They hardly expected for Shaw to come to them.

"Help! You've got to help me!" Blood gushed profusely from his hand, which he held against his body protectively. "It's that, that _thing_ in there with teeth. It took off my damned finger, and if I were still working here I'd have you FIRED for it, Xavier." He pointed at Charles with his good hand, trembling.

"My god, I think he's going into shock. Hank, call an ambulance." Carefully, he walked around Shaw to look for a first aid kit in the room, leaving Erik to guard him. When he returned with the shock blanket, he threw it over the man and held out his hand to Erik, showing off Erik the marimo and his prize. The Eriks exchanged grins, and Charles could only sigh.

"I think I take back every bad thing I've ever said about you, Monster. You aren't so bad," Erik chuckled, reaching to pet it. It was allowed this once, it seemed.

"We're talking about this, Erik, right after we're sure Shaw's going to make it to the hospital." The finger was removed from the marimo's artificial chompers and handed over to the paramedics once they arrived. While the former dean was escorted to emergency, allowed Charles to take the contents of the cooler back to the lab save for the injured marimo. Its mate was upset, snapping as it rolled to and fro in the aquarium. 

Discovering that Charles the marimo was injured infuriated and concerned everyone involved. Hank was hurt that he couldn't have protected his pet, while Charles regretted not attempting to take them with him. Erik felt the worst of them all, having been responsible for them when it happened, and took him off to try to make things right. He returned with the marimo in a jar an hour later, his head bowed as he handed it to Charles.

"It'll be okay, just let it heal up and keep it in that thing I made for it. He won't be as soft or round for a long time, but that's all I could do. I'm sorry." Sure enough, the marimo was in a cage of chicken wire to help it keep shape as the little patch that was taken out of it grew back properly. It'd been sewn on to the cage so that it would stay put if he rolled. "Charles can still do all the old stuff he could and the children can attach to him, but he's going to be very different for a while." Erik took him out and put him into the tank, watching him struggle to sink until the Monster came to help him. "He might not ever float and sink properly again."

None of that seemed to matter to the marimo, all of them crowding Charles and helping him stay under. The biggest helped him turn and roll while the babies acted as balance on every side until they had him in the safety of the caves. Charles went to Erik and took his hand, squeezing it gently before lacing their fingers together. 

"You did well. He's at least safe and in his home, and you and Erik worked together to make sure of that. I'm sure that he appreciates being alive and able to at least get around instead of becoming Shaw's plaything. Let's go to yours and we'll talk about this a little more. Anya should stay for the night, just so she doesn't worry." He started to pull Erik away from the aquarium and out the door, locking it behind him for extra security. The evening had been hectic and frightening, and the last thing he needed was Erik looking so morose and tense. He found the nearest private place outside the school and pushed Erik back against the wall, looping his arms around Erik's waist and looking him in the eyes before resting his head on his chest. Erik carded fingers through long brunette hair, waiting for the worst to come. When it never came, he realized that it wasn't ever going to. They headed to his apartment and curled up on the couch together, Charles lying on top of him, and the rest of the night was quiet.

***

Days later, Hank announced that he was transferring out of the school the next semester. It wasn't because of the incident, rather a unique opportunity to study in a school closer to his new internship. Charles was going to miss him dearly, as well as his sister Raven who'd just started to express her interest in him, but they all knew it was for the best. Everything had been decided months ago, but now seemed to be the best time for him to announce it. It was at his farewell dinner that he dropped his last bit of news on them.

Their dinner was at the same sushi restaurant that Erik had brought Charles to for their first formal date, the couple in question tucked next to one another in their booth as Charles stole a salmon roll from Erik. Things were better after they'd talked, Erik assured that Charles would stick around and Charles confirming that Erik loved him for being him instead of reminding him of Magda. They'd even had a coffee meeting with her (plus those old photos, much to Erik's misery) and things had gone splendid. Nothing seemed to be able bring their relationship crumbling down, and certainly Hank's news wouldn't be the thing to do it, he figured. He cleared his throat and smiled at them.

"Professor Xavier, I bet you're wondering what I'm doing with the boys at home now that I'm leaving, and the guys in the lab."

"Well, you certainly can't take fish with you, but I was expecting you to want your little brood back. They wouldn't be hard to ship, not even little Charles with his brace. I can pack them up and send them as soon as you're in your new place if you'd like."

"Actually," he corrected, "that won't be needed. One of the fish passed recently, leaving Wolverine, and I know how you love projects. Plus, haven't you been looking for a proper pet for Professor Lehnsherr now that he's let Anya be adopted by the others?" Erik took a sip of his soda to hide the little pink his cheeks took on whenever he thought of his little Anya so happy with his new family. "Besides, he's practically a shark himself, so a piranha would be perfect. And as an artist, he'll have the chance to study death more intimately, and you the feeding habits of the captive red bellied piranha. But that's not what I wanted to tell you, not really." He had another tuna roll, grimacing and gagging when he realized he'd accidentally grabbed one of Raven's spicy ones.

"Well, go on, spit it out!" Charles was giddy to hear now, his heart pounding at what it could be. If it was what he hoped, he would probably have to be stopped from jumping over the table and kissing Hank on the lips. Hank swallowed his sushi and coughed a bit.

"I've decided to let you keep the marimo, all of them. Not just for the project, but...as yours. I love them, but you're so invested in them, Professor, you and Professor Lehnsherr both. Even if he pretends like he doesn't sometimes, he's always there checking on them every time I see him in the lab. So they're yours now. Please take good care of them, guys." His face went red, everyone unsure if it was from the sushi or his embarrassment from his little speech, but it was received with smiles.

"Hank, this really means a lot to me, and I'm sure Erik agrees. I just...thank you. Really. We'll take the best care of them and you'll always have updates on everyone. I'll come get your last fish tonight and get him set up at Erik's whether he likes it or not." Charles nudged his boyfriend playfully, and Erik grunted. He didn't need another biter around, but at least this one could be satisfied with something other than human flesh. As he sighed, Charles leaned against his arm and patted his hand affectionately. "You'll like him, I think. Far less likely to bite and you never have to rinse him out, I promise." Erik snorted and kissed the top of his head.

"That's what you said about the last one, Charles, and now the little Monster won't bother anyone other than me. Let's just hope that you're right this time, because I'm not dealing with a thing with teeth breaking another of my sculptures just so it can have razor tipped fins."

***

Charles couldn't roll and float like he used to, and while he seemed to be frustrated by it, things weren't as bad as they looked. For one, Erik had mostly given up his dream of taking down Scary Human after the incident with the Reaper. He'd decided to do so when he saw that Charles would only be able to recover with Scary Human's help, and though he was reluctant he had to accept the help. Erik didn't bite and snap at him as much, not unless they were playing and the human had a nice snack in hand (little rawhide bones were becoming his favorite, he found) and he allowed Charles to be rinsed and checked over. It also helped that Anya was allowed to stay with them. Overall, Scary Human had become less scary, but Erik wasn't about to change the name. He still looked frightening when he flashed all those teeth.

The children had also started to grow, learning how to speak little syllables. Their first word was "Da," shortly followed by "Papa." That seemed to be their favorite whenever Erik was angry with James and Michael while puffing to twice his size, all of them calling and clinging to him. Charles laughed every time, becoming so light that it took all five of them to bring him back down. Not having freedom over his mobility was harder than he thought it ever would be, but Erik had once given him a reason to grow fond of it.

"One day, you'll grow big enough to make that cage of yours into a frame so you can stay round and stable, but for now it just means you have every excuse to stick to me." They were pressed together when Erik mentioned that, the kids asleep and the lights in the lab out. "That isn't so bad, is it? I know it doesn't seem like much of a fair trade, but it's the best you'll get for now."

"It's the perfect trade, Erik." He nestled against him again, Erik reaching under the metal wires of the cage to stick even closer. "I wouldn't even want floating freely for it. As long as I've got you and the babies, I think I've found perfection."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to give a big thank you to everyone who's read and demanded more of this series. I think this is the end of the main plot for me, so I'm going to mark this as complete, but on my tumblr I'm going to continue posting little trivia for the series and accepting prompts if anyone would like to see other aspects of any of the relationships. This story was for every one of you, and writing it was really fun. Again, thanks!


End file.
